LSU

August 30, 2013

AT&T Stadium has modified its security policy by
limiting the size and style of bags allowed into the stadium. The large purse shown here? That won't fly Saturday at TCU's season opener against LSU.
Prohibited bags
include, but are not limited to, the following: all purses, bags or containers
larger than a small clutch bag, coolers, briefcases, backpacks, fanny packs,
cinch bags, luggage of any kind, computer bags, camera bags, binocular cases
(binoculars may be worn around the neck), diaper bags, and seat cushions.

For more details on the bag restrictions visit
www.dallascowboys.com/bags.

Stefan Stevenson@FollowtheFrogs

AT&T Stadium has modified its security policy by limiting the size and style of bags allowed into the stadium. Prohibited bags include, but are not limited to, the following: all purses, bags or containers larger than a small clutch bag, coolers, briefcases, backpacks, fanny packs, cinch bags, luggage of any kind, computer bags, camera bags, binocular cases (binoculars may be worn around the neck), diaper bags, and seat cushions.

For more details on the bag restrictions visit www.dallascowboys.com/bags.

August 28, 2013

Heading into the 2013 college football season, the most-discussed rules change made during the offseason involves an updated definition of “targeting” by a defensive player while making a tackle. To help fans understand the nuances of the rule, the Big 12 circulated a video featuring Walt Anderson, the league’s coordinator of football officials, explaining what is allowed and what will be penalty under 2013 rules. This information applies to rules implementation throughout the country, not just the Big 12. Below is a link to Anderson’s video:

August 27, 2013

TCU defensive end Devonte Fields will suit up and be on the
sidelines against LSU but coach Gary Patterson declined to say whether his star
is still suspended."You’ll find out at game time," Patterson said Tuesday
during his media luncheon.Patterson said his track record on similar personnel issues
“speaks for itself,” indicating that Fields is unlikely to play in the opener
at 8 p.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium.Fields is listed atop TCU's newly-released depth with Matt
Anderson with only an “or” separating them. Coaches use “or” on depth charts to
indicate that either player listed could start the game.Patterson said he chose to list Fields as a potential
starter to confuse LSU."If you’re a betting man, and you know me, you probably know
which way to bet," Patterson said, which seems to indicate that Fields won't
play.Fields was named the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year
in 2012. Patterson suspended Fields after he broke unspecified team rules in
the spring.

August 26, 2013

TCU coach Gary Patterson is taking the Horned Frogs' quarterback derby down to the last second. The answer to the question -- Who will be TCU's starting quarterback? -- won't come until the Frogs' offense takes the field for the first time against LSU at 8 p.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium.

The pregame coin toss won't even offer a clue because Patterson said Monday on the Big 12 teleconference that both Casey Pachall and Trevone Boykin would represent the TCU offense as captains.He declined to name a starter Monday but said both will play.

August 17, 2013

Texas A&M will open the season as The Associated Press’ highest-rated college football team from the Lone Star State, with the Aggies grabbing the No. 7 spot in today’s AP preseason poll.

A&M is one of five Southeastern Conference schools that earned Top 10 spots, led by top-ranked Alabama. No. 15 Texas and No. 20 TCU rounded out a modest showing by Texas-based schools in the initial Top 25 rankings.

For A&M, today’s placement marked the Aggies’ loftiest preseason perch in the AP poll since the 1999 season, when the team also started at No. 7. The Aggies, who return Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel and other key playmakers from last year’s 11-2 team, were sixth in the preseason coaches poll, released earlier this month.

As a group, Big 12 schools were shut out of the Top 10 spots, with No. 13 Oklahoma State earning the most votes from pollsters. The Cowboys will open ahead of No. 16 Oklahoma for the first time in the AP rankings. But OSU received the lowest starting point of any Big 12 school to begin the season as the league’s highest-rated team since the conference was formed in 1996.

Two other Big 12 schools, Baylor (27th) and Kansas State (31st), received votes but finished unranked in the initial poll.

Six teams from the SEC, the conference that has produced the last seven BCS national champions, were ranked ahead of Oklahoma State. The SEC, with six, placed the most teams of any league in the initial poll, followed by the Pac-12 (five), Big Ten (five) and Big 12 (four).

Notre Dame, which fell to Alabama 42-14 in last year’s BCS National Championship Game, opened at No. 14.

For Alabama, which received 58 of 60 first-place votes, it marked the fourth time in school history for the Crimson Tide to begin the season atop the AP poll. In the three previous occasions (1966, 1978, 2010), Alabama went on to win the title only in 1978.

The last team to begin the season atop the AP poll and finish there was Southern California in 2004. The two first-place votes that did not go to Alabama were split between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Georgia.

August 09, 2013

Here's audio of TCU coach Gary Patterson from Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013. The note that ran in Wednesday's Star-Telegram was picked up and rewritten by multiple media outlets.
Many tried to turn it into a feud (by perhaps reading something between the lines that wasn't there) between Patterson and LSU coach Les Miles. Many assumed Patterson was criticizing how Miles handles his players. A link to the entire interview is at the bottom of this post.

Patterson talked to several reporters for over 11 minutes. Almost the entirety of the Q&A was devoted to TCU personnel issues and how certain players are doing through the first week of camp. I've selected the three moments of the interview when Patterson was
asked (by me, and I add that only for clarification purposes) about TCU defensive end Devonte Fields' status and then later whether Patterson had heard about LSU running back Jeremy Hill being reinstated back on the team.

The questions then turned back to TCU depth chart issues and the departure of linebacker Joel Hasley before I asked Patterson if he had heard about Miles allowing his team to vote Hill back on the team.

As the interview wound down, Patterson offered up, unprompted, how much he respects LSU's program and added the "100 point" line that many have misconstrued as a dig. Those of us listening took Patterson in jest, because that's how it sounded.

I know someone is likely to claim that this audio has been edited to clear Patterson, but I promise the only audio cut was stuff specific to TCU players and performance and would bore 99 out of 100 people, even TCU fans. These three clips contain all he said about LSU after practice Aug. 6.

No. 20 TCU opens the season against No. 13 LSU at 8 p.m. Aug. 31 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Here's the full 11:32 audio for anyone who is still looking around the grassy knoll. Back and to the left.

August 01, 2013

Texas A&M landed the No. 6 spot in today’s preseason coaches poll, the school’s highest starting point since 1995 and part of an SEC blitz that saw league teams capture five of the Top 10 spots, including the No. 1 ranking that went to Alabama.

Alabama, the two-time defending BCS champ, earned 58 of 61 first-place votes to finish comfortably ahead of No. 2 Ohio State with three top votes. Rounding out the Top 10, in order, were Oregon, Stanford, Georgia, A&M, South Carolina, Clemson, Louisville and Florida.

The Big 12 landed four teams in the poll, with TCU opening at No. 20 and Texas at No. 15. Oklahoma State, at No. 14, received the most support from voters among Big 12 teams (726 points), followed by Texas (622 points) and No. 15 Oklahoma (620 points). TCU finished with 400 points. Big 12 schools Baylor and Kansas State were unranked but finished among the top 30 schools in total votes.

For the Aggies, who posted an 11-2 record and finished No. 5 in both final polls last season, the starting spot is A&M’s highest since 1995, when the team finished 9-3 in the final season of the Southwest Conference. A&M returns quarterback Johnny Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, and was the only school to defeat Alabama during the Crimson Tide’s 13-1 march to last year’s BCS title.

SEC schools placed the most teams in the inaugural poll, with six. The Pac-12 had five teams, with UCLA (No. 21), Southern California (No. 24) and Oregon State (No. 25) grabbing thee of the last five available spots. Notre Dame, which lost to Alabama 42-14 in last year’s BCS title game, opened at No. 11.

July 26, 2013

TCU’s season opener against LSU at AT&T Stadium has not officially
been announced as a sell out but a cursory search for tickets online showed
that only standing room only remains available.
The 8 p.m. Aug. 31 game will be televised by ESPN.

Fans can still purchase Spirit Passes for $40 each that will
get them in the building for the Cowboys Classic. Both schools sold out of their allotments of 25,000
tickets, according to a source.

Friday afternoon you could still purchase a group of 50
spirit passes for about $1,940 before taxes and fees.
Stubhub.com, the aftermarket ticket reseller site, was selling spirit passes going
for between $45 and $71 Friday afternoon.
The cheapest seats available on the site were $75 for upper reserve on the 24th
row in section 404. One delusional soul was selling two upper reserve tickets
in section 434 (in the corner of the end zone) for $1,700 each. Good luck with
that.

TCU last played in the stadium against BYU in 2011. The Horned Frogs won 38-28. TCU opened the 2010 season with a 30-21 win over Oregon State in the Cowboys Classic. LSU beat Oregon 40-27 in the Cowboys Classic in 2011 before a then record 87,711 in attendance. The Tigers beat Texas A&M 41-24 in the Cotton Bowl played at the stadium after the 2010 season.The first Cowboys Classic pitted BYU and Oklahoma in 2009. BYU won 14-13 in front of 75,437 fans. A year ago, Alabama beat Michigan 41-14 in front of 90,413 fans.

December 02, 2012

The voters in the coaches poll have spoken. But what they have said by placing Northern Illinios at No. 16 in today’s poll that will be used in compiling the final BCS standings remains open for discussion.And the final word will not become public until tonight’s release of the final BCS standings (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

The bottom line is that Oklahoma (10-2) would be bumped from an at-large BCS bowl berth if Northern Illinois (12-1), the MAC champ, finishes 16th or higher in the final BCS standings. If that happens, the Sooners _ who envisioned playing Florida (11-1) in the Sugar Bowl on Saturday night _ would wind up in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, with an anticipated matchup against LSU (10-2) or Texas A&M (10-2).

The situation is fluid and two BCS analysts, CBS’ Jerry Palm and ESPN’s Brad Edwards, have switched their bowl projections today. Both took Oklahoma out of the BCS mix in favor of Northern Illinois (12-1). But both cautioned that the margin will be razor thin. The Huskies will climb in the computer rankings based on their victory over Kent State (11-2) in the MAC title game. But the impact of voters in the coaches poll and the Harris poll figure to be crucial.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops did his part to help his team, voting the Sooners at No. 6 and Northern Illinois at No. 24 in today’s final coaches poll. The ballots of voters were released on the USA Today website. Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren voted Oklahoma 11th and his team at No. 14.

If Oklahoma does not wind up in the Sugar Bowl, the omission would cost the Big 12 a $6.2 million windfall and would create a reshuffling of the league’s bowl slots. It would sent Texas to the Alamo Bowl to meet a Pac-12 foe (likely Oregon State), with lots of guessing on bowl placements after that. The Big 12 also would need to find a spot for one of its bowl-eligible teams (likely Iowa State) in a game that is not contractually tied to the Big 12.

The SEC slots are being solidified, with Georgia expected to play Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl. That means A&M’s likely bowl destination will either be the Cotton Bowl against OU or the Chick-fil-A Bowl (in Atlanta) against Clemson.

Nothing, as this juncture, has been announced by the SEC in terms of bowl berths. But officials at the Capital One Bowl have announced Nebraska as the Big Ten representative in that contest.

Other Big 12 coaches joined Stoops in voting up the Sooners and voting down Northern Illinois. Baylor coach Art Briles placed Oklahoma at No. 6 and Northern Illinois at No. 19 on his ballot. West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen had OU at No. 9, with Northern Illinois at No. 24. The ballot of Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville mirrored where both teams finished in today’s coaches’ poll: OU at No. 11 and Northern Illinois at No. 16.

Kent State coach Darrell Hazel, whose team lost to Northern Illinios in the MAC title game, voted Oklahoma at No. 11 and Northern Illinois at No. 17 on his ballot.

September 04, 2012

Alabama used its dominant showing in Saturday’s season opener at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington to jump Southern California and become the No. 1 team in today’s updated Associated Press college football rankings.

The Crimson Tide (1-0) received 45 of 60 first-place votes in today’s AP poll after scoring a 41-14 victory over then-No. 8 Michigan in college football’s lone matchup of Top 10 teams on opening weekend. USC (1-0), the No. 1 team in the AP pre-season poll, dropped to No. 2 _ with 11 first-place votes _ after opening with a 49-10 victory over Hawaii.

Texas fell to No. 17 in today’s poll, down two spots from last week after defeating Wyoming, 37-17, in its opener. TCU remained at No. 20 heading into the Horned Frogs’ opener Saturday in Fort Worth against Grambling. Texas (1-0) and TCU (0-0) are the only schools from the Lone Star State ranked by AP voters.

Oklahoma (1-0) fell one spot, from fourth to fifth, in today’s updated poll after posting a 24-7 victory over UTEP to open its season.

LSU (1-0) remained at No. 3 following a 41-14 victory over North Texas. The Tigers received four first-place votes. Oregon (1-0), which opened with a 57-34 victory over Arkansas State, climbed to fourth in the updated rankings.

Rounding out the Top 10, behind No. 5 Oklahoma, were Florida State, Georgia, Arkansas and two teams tied for the ninth spot: South Carolina and West Virginia.

Notre Dame (1-0) jumped into the poll at No. 22 following a 50-10 victory over Navy in Dublin, Ireland. Michigan (0-1) fell from eighth to 19th after its loss to Alabama.